Local and state election officials say New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is overreaching his authority by trying to force them to eliminate the Juvenile Court seat of indicted judge Yolanda King.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler and Orleans Parish Criminal District Court Clerk Arthur Morrell said in court papers filed this week that Landrieu is illegally trying to eliminate the seat of a sitting judge.

"That seat isn't vacant," Morrell said in an interview. King "is still getting paid. If they are still getting paid, they are still in office."

The filings by Schedler and Morrell come in response to a suit filed earlier this week by the city in a Baton Rouge court. The suit asks a judge to stop Morrell and Schedler from moving forward with an election for King's seat, Juvenile Court's Section E.

The suit pointed to a law passed this year that calls for the abolition of any Juvenile Court seat vacated by a judge's death, resignation, retirement, removal from office or "disqualification from exercising any judicial function."

That last provision was added after the Louisiana Supreme Court suspended King, who is facing criminal charges that she lied about where she lived during her 2013 electoral run, and mirrors its language exactly. She says she lives in New Orleans, but prosecutors say she was a resident of Slidell where she owned a home.

Madro Bandaries, Morrell's lawyer, said the law was meant to target King's seat. "The whole thing was a set up," he said.

Lawyers for Schedler said in their filing that it's impossible to keep Section E off the ballot because it's occupied by a sitting judge, even if she is suspended.

Louisiana law requires the Supreme Court to notify the governor's office when any judgeship becomes vacant, according to the secretary of state's response to Landrieu's lawsuit. To date, the Supreme Court has written no such letter.

Both sides are scheduled to appear in court Monday at 10:30 a.m.

Bandaries said that he expects the judge to make a ruling at the hearing because the election timeline is approaching fast.

Qualifying, which is handled by Morrell's office, begins Aug. 20.

The Secretary of State said that it has to have the ballots finalized by Sept. 3 in order to have them ready to mail out to absentee voters in time for the Nov. 4 election.